From 1-3 March, Provost and Senior Vice-President Professor Susan Elliott joined 11 Australian university Vice-Chancellors and Education Minister Jason Clare on an official visit to India, the latest in a series of high-level engagements between the two countries.
Education is a strong pillar in the relationship between India and Australia, with a strong demand for Australian education and training among Indian students resulting in Australian universities hosting almost 1.6 million Indian student enrolments since 2005. With India aiming to educate 500 million students by 2035, Australian universities have new opportunities to support the nation’s education reform ambitions and diversify education offerings to reach new cohorts of students.
While in India, Minister Clare signed the Mechanism on the Recognition of Australian and Indian Qualifications, locking in rules for mutual recognition to access education in both countries, including the qualifications Australian universities provide online and offshore.
Professor Elliott welcomed this development: “The Australian universities’ delegation to India demonstrated the role of education in forging and maintaining a strong connection between India and Australia.
“Qualification recognition will boost participation in higher education at a critical moment in India’s history. Furthermore, it will open doors for graduates by improving access to employment in both countries, empowering young people to use their qualifications across nations.”
India is currently Australia’s second largest and fastest growing source of international students with 128,979 Indian students enrolled with Australian providers (December 2022), making up approximately 17 per cent of all international student enrolments (up 15 per cent on 2019). Prior to the pandemic, international education added $40.1 billion to our economy, with Indian students contributing around $6.1 billion.
